Task 9 - Terminology

1.       Mainstream film/ Mainstream cinema: Mainstream films are described as films that are widely released in cinemas, examples of this would be Hollywood movies and blockbuster movies.

2.       Independent film/ Independent cinema: An independent film or indie film is a film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment agencies.

3.       Production: The production stage of film making is the stage where they actually make the film and record it.  This is done by using digital cameras, green screens, CGI (computer generated imagery) and many more uses of technology within the process.

4.       Distribution: Getting the films out to the viewers and paying for the advertisement and marketing of it.  

5.       Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

6.       Exchange: This is how people watch a film: Cinema, TV, computer, iPhone

7.       Multinational Conglomerate: A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate group, usually involving a parent company or many subsidiaries.  Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company.  Conglomerates are often large and multinational.

8.       Monopoly: This is a situation in which a single company or group owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service.

9.       Oligopoly: A state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers.

10.    Name the Big Six (bonus question % of box office takings?)

• Disney
• Paramount
• Sony
• Warner Bros.
• Universal
• 20th Century Fox

11.    Horizontal Integration (also known as cross media ownership)

12.    Vertical Integration: This is where the means or production and distribution are controlled by one company.

13.    Synergy: This is where two or more compatible products sell each other: ill manors film and CD.

14.    Merchandising: Where the popularity of film is through the sale of spin-offs, toys, mugs, games etc.

15.    Ultra Violet: This is a DVD sharing with five others

16.    Above the Line: This is the marketing costs included in budget i.e. website, trailers etc.

17.    Below the Line: This is free advertising – virals, social networks, word of mouth,fan-sites.

18.    Technological Convergence/Cross media convergence: This is where the film is available to watch on a number of platforms including the internet.

19.    Consumption: This is how well a film did, sales, box office, online and DVD and how it was received by fans and critics (reviews).

20.    Exhibition: This is the type of release, wide or limited, how many weeks.

21.    Piracy: Online film piracy is the illegal downloading and uploading of movies in print, videos, DVDs or electronic files.

22.    Hollywood Franchise 4S Model – synergy, spectacle, sequelisation, story

23.    Tie-In: A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property.

Task 7 - Audience and Cinema Statistics

Audience and Cinema going Statistics from Chloeohare

Task 6: Independent Cinema's

Independent Cinemas from Chloeohare

Representation of Ethnicity - Hotel Babylon

Representation of Ethnicity from Chloeohare

Task 5: Film Production Companies

Film Production Companies from Chloeohare

Task 4: Wild Bill

Wild Bill from Chloeohare

Task 3: Fast and Furious 7

Skins notes

Mise en scene

Camera

Sound

Editing

What? 

1.  Fragmented narrative 

2.  Screen time

3.  Fast pace 

Where? 

1.  Multiple scenes; interspersed, inside party, trampoline, outside, leaving house, Sid & Cassie.

2.  Sid & Cassie 

3.  Party

Why? 

1.  Chaotic, teen life, understand the teen mindset, create empathy for teens in modern world. 

2.  Serious issues being prioritised

3.  Fun loving side of teens

Film Productions

Film 4

Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established.  Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, Academy Award winners such as Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady in addition to critically-acclaimed award winners such as Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Chris Morris’s Four Lions, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, Shane Meadows’ This is England, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.

Film4’s recent releases include; Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette, Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, Asif Kapadia’s box office record-breaking documentary Amy, Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Peter Strickland’s The Duke Of Burgundy, Daniel Wolfe’s Catch Me Daddy and John Maclean’s Slow West.

Ex Machina

The Duke Of Burgundy

Amy

Forthcoming releases include: Todd Haynes’ Carol, Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Susanna White’s Our Kind Of Traitor, Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise and Free Fire, Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk, Benedict Andrews’ Una and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey.

High-Rise

Carol

Summit

Summit is an American film production company and distribution, and it is a subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment company also.  Summit entertainment was originally founded in 1991 and was initially made to sale films in foreign countries.








Icon
Warp Films

Representation Of Gender

The notes below have been taking from the episode of 'Cutting It'.

Camera:

• The man is above the women once she gets run over: she is powerless and women are dominated by the male sex.
• Shot is high-angle on the women but an mid shot on the man: women are dominated and overruled by men.
• The camera slowly tilts up on the man's face, parallel with sad music: he will receive bad news which will take time to get over and recover from.  Also foreshadows his wife's upcoming death.
• Camera is mainly on the man's 'point of view', never see the women's 'point of view', therefore we are segregated from what she is feeling, but we know how the man feels and what he sees: suggest women are over spoken, there feelings are brushed aside, the man is the main focus and we begin to feel empathy for him although the dialogue hints he cheated on her.

Mise-en-scene:

• The light is shining on the woman, but shadowing the man: light suggest the women is of an innocent nature, yet the man is guilty of something (in this case most likely unfaithfulness).
• In the taxi, the woman is in control, she knows where they are going, he doesn't, she pays for the taxi: this suggests she is in control of the situation and she is subverting her gender stereotype by paying for the taxi and knowing where they are going.
• Theme of marriage is repeated: suggest they are forcing the happiness into their relationship.
• The flowers are the colour white next the women when she is dying: this colour is a representation of peace and innocence, suggesting she has this in her nature.

Sound:

• The slow music: foreshadows the impending doom of her death.
• Music is parallel to the scene: bad news
• The man tells the woman to 'Shhh': patronising the woman, telling her to be quiet, he is weak and doesn't want to hear her feelings of him being guilty.
• The song lyrics in the song when the man is fiddling with his ring sing 'You know you are free': this foreshadows her death again, suggesting he wants to be out of the relationship and that he is going to be free from her when she dies.
• When she dies at the end of the scene, the whole sound is muted apart from the car crash Foley sound: this focuses on the crash, as this is the bad news he was going to get

Editing: (to be completed)

PEE sample (A grade)

The sample answer below is referring to the beginning scene of the first episode of Skins. (Representation of Age)

1.  P (point) : Within the mise en scène, the producers use costume to convey messages about their ideologies of the representation of age.

E (evidence) : We see the 'chav' costumes on the boys who arrive late, contrasted with the posher, richer costumes of the hots of the house party. These contrast further with the grungy dark costume of Sid, and again with Cassie's classical gold dresses and flowing hair. 

E (explain) : On first reading, the chav image seems to conform to stereotypes - the director is feeding the audience with a representation of age which we expect. It does not challenge us to think beyond this stereotype. However, the multiple representations also suggest the ideology that the stereotypes are wrong; there are many different 'types' of teenagers, whose differences should be celebrated ( but perhaps are not by society). 

(Cassie's costume set her aside (Lonely, issues))

2.  P (point): the use of the fragmented narrative in this clip helps to further the representation of teenagers. 

E (example): the narrative intersperses loud interior party scenes with quieter dialogue scenes outside on the trampoline. We also have a long establishing scene as the boys arrive at the party, a fast-paced fight scene, and the final action when the main teenage protagonists leave. 

E (Explanation): this fragmentation helpls to convey the chaos of teenage life. The multiple narratives show just how much teenagers have to cope with in a short space of time. As an institution with a predominantly teenage audience, E4 is acing as an advocate for teen issues, and trying to get the viewer to empathise with the sheer amount of pressure society places on teenagers. It is also a commercially viable devision, as the empathy secures it's fan base by supporting teens in fighting back against stereotypes. 

Representation of Age

Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Countertype: subverting/challenging a stereotypical view. 

Stereotypes of the elderly:

Incapable of things

Slow

Grey hair

Glasses

Hearing aids/Deaf

ill

Care home

Grumpy

Wise

Traditional

Old fashioned

Smelly

Wrinkly

Forgetful

Weak

Small

TV dramas: Emmerdale, One foot in the grave

Stereotypes of children:

Vulnerable

Silly

Small

Immature

Clueless

Innocent

Playful

Naughty

Loud

Attention seeking

TV dramas:

Representation of teenagers:

Violent

Rude

Cocky/Arrogant

Drugs/Drinking

Rebelious

Antisocial

'Chav'

TV dramas: Skins, Hollyoaks, Misfits, The Inbertweeners

Representation of adults (20-50):

Boring

Mature

Receding hairline

Family focused

Work

Sensible

Bossy

Independent

TV dramas: The Bill, Dr. Martin, Eastenders 

Essay question

In the opening of 'coming down the mountain ' there are many specific details that represent and display disability in such a patronising manner. This is evident in the camera work, editing, sound effects and mise-en-scène.

Ben is the boy who suffers from down syndrome and has an older brother called David. Ben wears clothing that is up to date and modern of which the majority of the students wear. Instead of wearing clothes which suit his disability, such as; elastic armed waists and non-button t-shirts, this shows his parents are desperately trying to fit Ben in with his fellow school mates. However, this creates a contrast with Ben himself, as he wears 'normal' clothing yet he is different to most other people in his school.  At the very start of the scene, the image shows Ben and David's room of which they share. There is an immaculate difference in this scene, where David's side of the room is dark, mainly black and white and reasonably tidy. Where, bens side of the room is of so many bright colours, it is messy and has a number of teddies on the bed. This shows that although the they are in the same room, they are worlds apart. This scene also reflects the maturity difference between them both, as bens room looks like a ton child's room and David's suits his age. 

Reflecting on the sound effects on this clip, the voiceover at the start of it is David speaking about Ben, telling the audience about Ben and his life with him. However, you never hear from Ben, this portrays that people with disabilities can't speak for themselves. Aswell as this Dave refers to Ben as 'they' when he is referring to 'kids like Ben'. This shows David is segregating disabled people from society, almost isolating them. The scene where Ben is on the bus, the background dialogue becomes muffled and butted with the camera only on his face.  This displays another sign of isolation suggesting disabled people are in a constant bubble. Also, the music is slow and sad which is parallel to this scene, this results in us sympathising for Ben as he is all alone on the bus. The dialogue of this clip is very patronising towards Ben, portraying that he only understands speech of an immature nature. This also suggests disabled people have a younger mental age than they actually are. Later on in the clip, David refers to Ben as a 'potato' which is similar to a 'vegetable' which is used to insult people who are incapable of doing many things, which is used to insult people who are incapable of doing many things.

The next specified aspect used for the representation of disability is the camera; the frame, angle, movement and shot. When we first see Ben and David there is an Aries shot of them both on the bed with the camera zooming down on them. The camera then made a pan movement around David's head which showed he was in deep thought about killing his brother. When the camera then goes on Ben it is an Ariel shot of Ben sleeping, displaying he is powerless as he is unconscious and not aware; this is a sign that reflects on people with disabilities, that they are dominated and powerless without knowing. Another sign of dominance is when Ben is standing behind David, clearly smaller than him and the camera is a high angled, over the shoulder shot, which almost disincludes Ben from the scene.  This suggests that not only is Ben segregated from society, but by his own family too. There is one powerful message in this clip where there is an impression of a target on bens face whilst David is pointing the gun at him. This is a high-angled, point of view shot where us, the audience, can see through David's eyes. At this point we empathise for David as we begin to see how hard it is to live with someone who has disabilities.  Due to the high angled shot on Ben this suggests he is lower in society than other people are. With the layer of the target on Ben, this also displays that disabled people are a target to society as victims of bullying. 

The editing of this clip is very clever in the way it represents disability. When Ben is on the bus, the pace of the scene slows down, suggesting his body functions far slower than people without disabilities. This enables the audience to understand and almost sympathise for Ben because of his slower understanding. The narrative order is interesting, we are introduced to David first, then Ben second. This portrays Ben as seconds best and not as important than David. Not only this but David has more screen time gnat Ben which again imitates the same reason, second best is what disabled people are seen as. The fact the narrative is a straight forwards chronological order suggests how simple the lifestyle of Ben and David's family is. The scene shows the routine of their daily life, it is very repetitive and contains an unending responsibility of looking after Ben. The speed of the transitions us very fast and chaotic and almost rushed. This reflects Ben's brain as he looks and is easily confused, therefore these adjectives represent disability as chaotic and difficult to adjust too. The fact that the young boy runs and talks to David about a petrol can, the speech is hard to understand. This is done on purpose so the audience feel the disorientation that some disabled people may feel. Therefore, this initially makes is sympathetic for Ben. 

Task 2: Audience and Exhibition

The top 5 grossing films of 2015

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2. Jurassic World
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
4. Inside Out
5. Fast and Furious 7

1.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The release of this film was on Thursday 17th December, which was the day before the Christmas school holidays began...how convenient.  Successful films plan the day that they release their film as this shows they know when to release a film that will attract a higher audience, as much more people will be off school and work therefore more people will go to the cinema, therefore they make more money.  The film was directed by J.J Abrams, who is an american director, producer, write and composer.  He is known for his work in the genres of action, drama and science fiction.  It cost $201 million to make the film, yet they made $517 million worldwide just on its opening weekend.  Star Wars is a sequel of eleven films.  Due to the amount of Star Wars films that are already out, they are under a lot of pressure to make this film successful, plus their will already be loyal fans to the films which means they wont have any trouble attracting an audience.  Star Wars is a blockbuster film with the genres of action, science-fiction, adventure, thriller, fantasy and space opera.

2.  Jurassic World

The second top grossing film is the blockbuster Jurassic World, it is certified a 12 and cost a total of $652 million to make.  It is directed by Colin Trevorrow, written by Rick Jaffa (screenplay), Amanda Silver (screenplay) and Colin Trevorrow.  Jurassic World was released on June 12th 2015 which is unusual as this is not near any of the school holidays therefore, many people will be in education or at work.  It is an american, science-fiction adventure film and is the fourth film to be released of the Jurassic Park series.  After the opening weekend, had the film grossing over $500 million worldwide, and it has generated $1.6 billion in box office revenue.  Therefore, it stands as the fourth highest grossing film of all time and the second grossing film of 2015.  The next sequel is due to be released in 2018 on June 22nd.  Universal spent a total of $34.9 million advertisements for the film which evidently and obviously paid off.

3.  The Avengers: Age of Ultron

This film is ranked number three in the top grossing films and was released on the 5th January 2015. The distributor is Walt Disney and it is certified as PG-13. This is a blockbuster film and sold 54.5 million tickets. The film genre is action and the profit made was $459,005,868. There are a few films in The Avengers series. 

4.  Inside Out

This film is ranked number four in the top grossing films and was released on the 19th July 2015. The distributor is Walt Disney and it is certified as PG. This film was released the day that most children broke up from school and the planned this on purpose. This is so that they'll have more sales as more teenagers will be home from school for the summer holidays meaning they'll make a higher profit. There is only one film and no sequels. This is a blockbuster film and sold 42 million tickets. The film genre is adventure and the profit made was $356,461,711.


5.  Fast and Furious 7

This film is ranked number five in the top grossing films and was released on the 4th March 2015. The distributor is Universal and it is certified as PG-13. There is only 7 films in this series. This is a blockbuster film and sold 41 million tickets. The film genre is adventure and the profit made was $351,032,910.

Media Terminology

 Technological convergence refers to the process where new technology is moving towards single platforms delivering multiple media outputs that can be used to reach audiences, for example, a PS3's primary function is video gaming but you can download and watch movies from Amazon Prime on it and also watch catch up TV and music videos. Convergent technology is technology that allows an audience to consume more than one type of media from a single platform.

Lots of aspects of the internet e.g. social networking, YouTube, online editions of newspapers and magazines are convergent but candidates cannot quote the internet as the sole aspect of their answer. Their answer needs to be linked into the media area they are talking about (Film, Music, Magazines, Newspapers, Radio, Video Games). E.g if they were talking about newspapers you could link in to their online editions and talk about how this differs from the traditional paper version and the opportunities it presents or if talking about film, candidates could, for example, point to Facebook campaigns advertising a film or viral marketing spread via the internet.

Digital projection is convergent technology because films that are produced digitally have moved away from the physical film medium and can be supplied to theaters in digital format (lower costs for distribution versus higher start up costs for theaters switching to digital technology). As the film is in digital format there are also cost savings as potentially less work needs to be done on the film to get it onto Blu-Ray, DVD, internet trailers etc as no physical conversion needs to take place because the film is already in digital format.

 Cross Media Convergence is really a Business Studies term and refers to companies coming together vertically or horizontally (or both). The example often cited in exams is of Working Title making use of its parent company(s) to gain access to bigger stars and a better distribution network for their films.

Synergy basically means working together to achieve an objective that couldn't be achieved independently. Cross-media convergence can help with synergy if companies are wise enough to take advantage of the links they have forged. Disney is an obvious example of a synergistic company from the top down from Film Studio to Kids' TV Channel (where it further plays and promotes its films) to the Disney Store (in the street and online) where your kids can pester you to buy all the merchandise and DVDs/CD's they've seen on the TV/Web or in the cinema.

Tech convergence: Is where a single device enables the user to perform more than one (expected) task or role E.g. the iPhone let's users call, access Twitter, scan 3D bar codes and access augmented reality content, run app's made by Media institutions, Take photo's, access websites. Thus, technological convergence means accessing and interacting with your chosen media in more than one way and being able to do so on one device rather than many.

Media Convergence: (Not 100% on this) Media institutions delivering their product on more than one media channel. E.g. A magazine firm (say) Grazia or Heat also having a web presence, Twitter, YouTube etc. Same concept but with a focus on media institutions instead of technologies.

Synergy-2 or more brands coming together to promote a specific event or product together, thus broadening their audience by reaching the audience of their partner brands as well as their own audience. E.g. Beats by Dr Dre headphones are made by Monster and marketed under the Dr Dre name. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have also released under the "Beats" name, therefore people who wouldn't usually buy Monster or Dr Dre products are now attracted to and buy into the brand. Lots of case studies for Grazia e.g. Grazia with Estee Lauder during London Fashion Week.

Representation Acronyms

When analysing representations, you must explore how they are created and refer to the following subjects:

• Camera, angle, shot, movement and composition
• Mise-en-scene
• Editing
• Sound

There is one important representation acronym to remember when analysing a person:

D - isability

R - egional identity

C - lass

A - ge

G - ender

E - thnicity

S - exuality

Camera work acronym:

F - rame

A - ngle

M - ovement

S - hot

Mise-en-scene

C - lamps
L - ighting
A - ctors (appearance and body language)
M - ake-up
P - rops
S - etting

Editing

S - creen time
T - ransitions
O - rder of narrative
P - ace
S - fx

Sound

M - usic
C - ontrapuntual/parallel
D - iagetic/non-diagetic
O - ff screen/on screen
V - oiceover
E - motion
D - ialogue

Exam Advice:  For the question on TV Drama, you should at least have three or four PEE points on each of the sections above when analysing the film.  This would enable you to get top marks.

TV Drama

A TV Drama is a dramatic programme which has an ongoing narrative over a series of episodes.  Each episode commonly ends on a cliff hanger which draws in the viewers to want to watch the next episode.

Examples of TV Dramas:

90210

Doctor Who

Breaking Bad

Eastenders

Misfits

Skins

There are any sub-genres of Drama:

Period Drama:

• Downton Abby
• Mr Selfridge
• Call the Midwife

Medical Drama:

• Holby City/Casualty
• ER
• Doctors

Crime Drama:

• Criminal
• Luther
• NCIS
• CSI
• Sherlock

Teen Drama:

• 90210
• PLL
• Skins
• Gossip Girl
• My Mad Fat Diary